Salinas gang violence taxes police

In a department already challenged by budget-driven staff cuts, Salinas police continue to battle a wave of gang violence that has left four people dead since Wednesday.

But despite their best efforts, the flare-up of violence persisted Sunday with five more shootings in less than 24 hours.

During the weekend, police made 10 arrests on a variety of offenses, Police Chief Louis Fetherolf said Monday. More than 100 parole searches and other types of police "contacts" took place, he said, many targeting specific gangs believed to have been involved in much of last month's violence.

Fetherolf acknowledged that working with a police gang unit that has been cut in half is far from ideal, and said the back-to-back slayings are taxing the department.

"This is what we're working with," he said, referring to budget cuts that halved the Violence Suppression Unit's staff.

Although the unit focuses on carrying out police suppression actions once violence occurs, it is the closest the department has to a gang intelligence arm, and its members tend to have more in-depth knowledge of local gang factions. Ten positions in the unit were eliminated July 1.

Mayor Dennis Donohue acknowledged Monday that the cuts have put "limitations" on the department.

"Frankly, they matter," he said.

When the third shooting in less than four hours took place late Friday, police resources were visibly stretched, with only a few officers able to respond to the scene, and even fewer detectives.

Exhausted officers worked through the weekend, Fetherolf said, as the California Highway Patrol and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office helped police conduct "saturation patrols."

There were no injuries in any of Sunday's shootings, and police have made no related arrests, officer Lalo Villegas said.

Sunday's attacks began about 2:40 a.m. and continued every few hours until 10:30 p.m. Two of the five shootings that day took place in close proximity to the scenes of fatal shootings last week.

The victims

Last week's violence began Wednesday night, when Frank Sanchez Jr., 16, died after he was shot in the head while sitting in a parked car outside his Capital Street home.

Minutes later, Kristian Zamudio, 14, was killed after he was shot on Prado Circle. A second 14-year-old was wounded and remains at a San Francisco Bay Area hospital in critical condition, Villegas said.

Thursday morning, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the abdomen in the 1000 block of Del Monte Avenue.

On Friday, a farmworker whom police have not identified died after he was shot about 5:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of First Avenue. Villegas said authorities are still trying to confirm his identity and notify his family. Police said he was likely not the intended target.

Manzo and a 24-year-old man, who was wounded in the leg and is expected to recover, were shot about 7:30p.m. at Partridge Way and Falcon Drive.

Less than two hours later, a 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old man were shot in the upper torso near Dennis Avenue and Bardin Way. Police have said the injuries were life-threatening.

Then, after a day of quiet Saturday, the attacks resumed early Sunday.

Fetherolf said Monday that in the 11 shootings that took place between Wednesday and Sunday, more than 70 shots were fired. Nine people were killed or injured. Six of the victims were teenagers, two as young as 14.

Community mum

Detectives are working with limited information on the slayings, he said, and the community must step up to help officers find those who are responsible. Parents and relatives of gang members are not doing kids any favors by keeping quiet, he said.

"What we need most is information," he said.

He admitted that some people don't cooperate with police or come forward because they are fearful of retaliation. Gangs thrive on that fear, he said.

"If they can maintain fear in the community, they win. And I'm not willing to let them win. We're not willing to let them win," he said.

Mayor Dennis Donohue said he's confident the long-term strategies in place are working.

"We know what has to be done. We are doing it and we will not pause," he said.

Abrupt turnaround

Overall, shootings and especially homicides are still at far lower levels than last year's. But as last week showed, when it comes to gang violence, a trend can turn around in just a few hours.

The summer's rash of violence followed nearly six months of dramatically reduced shooting numbers.

While it's natural for officers to feel disheartened by the abrupt turnaround, Fetherolf said, "we're not reacting to the peaks and valleys" of violence.

Police said most of July's shootings were the result of back-and-forth retaliation between rival Norteño and Sureno gang factions that began in mid-July but kicked into high gear on Wednesday.

Violence Suppression Unit officers said they are using that knowledge to target the groups involved, as part of the city's Ceasefire strategy.

Fetherolf said the city remains firm in its plan of working with state and federal agencies and of continuing to use Ceasefire, which is credited with helping cities see significant drops in gang violence.

"We're not rising and falling with these waves," he said. "We're staying the course."

Wayne Hose, a former police chief who saw success with Ceasefire in his hometown of Stockton, said that to keep violence down for the long term, the strategy must be "institutionalized" within city agencies.

Ceasefire requires department-wide commitment and can't be seen as a temporary project, said Stewart Wakeling, who is helping Salinas police with data-crunching and other technical support.

"It's all about maintaining a high level of effort all the time," he said. "The lesson is you can never let your guard down. Ever."